


Flip the Blueprints

by Wonderlandleighleigh



Category: The OC
Genre: F/M, Futurefic, Gen, Kidfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 20:39:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11494323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderlandleighleigh/pseuds/Wonderlandleighleigh
Summary: If Ryan Atwood was gonna move back to Newport, where else would he live, other than in that house?





	Flip the Blueprints

They get coffee, just the two of them, while Sandy, Kirsten and Sophie are in New York, visiting for Chrismukkah. 

Seth and Summer have taken their new baby up to Seattle to visit Neal, and Ryan’s wife is overseas for the holidays, visiting an ill relative in the UK without her husband and son, so it’s the perfect time for a Cohen trio trip to NYC. 

Ryan brings the coffees over and hands Kirsten a vanilla decaf latte before sitting down with his own house drip.

“This place is nice,” Kirsten says, looking around the rustic coffee shop. 

“Yeah, I like the atmosphere,” Ryan shrugs. “And the building is nice...coffee’s okay.” 

“Not like those little places in Newport,” she remarks, sipping her latte, which is just a little too sweet. 

“Or Harbor’s coffee cart,” Ryan grins. “You know, I really like spending time with you, but something tells me you didn’t ask me to coffee just to catch up.” 

“Well...not entirely, no,” Kirsten admits sheepishly. “The last time we spoke, Summer mentioned that Taylor had a crazy idea.” 

Ryan swallows his coffee and nods. “Yep. She gave birth to twins and then told us we should all move back to Newport and raise our kids there together.” 

Kirsten can’t helps a soft laugh. “That’s very sweet.” 

“Eh, it’s a little unfeasible,” Ryan points out. “Em and I are here in New York, Seth and Summer are in Portland, Taylor and Case are in DC...I think Anna’s in Boston...though I heard Luke is back in Newport.” 

“He seems to be doing really well there,” Kirsten nods.

“I’m happy for him.” 

“You’re just not sure you want to move back to Newport,” Kirsten adds. 

“I have reservations, yeah,” Ryan nods. 

“It has a lot going for it,” Kirsten shrugs. “Safe neighborhoods, good schools…” 

“Alex is barely a month old,” Ryan grins wryly. “We’re not quite to the point of thinking about schools, despite Taylor and Case having Parker and Penny enrolled in preschool already.” 

“Well, I had an idea,” Kirsten tells him, pulling some paperwork from her purse and handing it over. 

Ryan frowns and takes it, flipping it open and looking it over. “The old Newport house?” 

“Mhm. The buyers never actually did anything with it.” 

“Huh.” 

He stays quiet for a long moment, and she waits for him to read and think and think and read. He glances up at her curiously after a long moment, and she grins sheepishly. 

“I miss building things,” Kirsten admits. “Not in the way my father built things, but...in the way I used to love the process of making a building come to life.” 

It’s something they’ve always shared, and every time Ryan was stumped by a project, he’d go to Kirsten with it, get her perspective. She’s good at bringing structure to life, and he’s always been incredibly grateful for the opportunities to learn from her. 

“And you and I never got to build anything together,” she adds, and his heart lurches a little, because he’s always regretted not being able to share that process with her in real time. 

He grins. “You wanna rebuild the old house.” 

Kirsten grins back. “Sandy bought back the property for my last birthday. But we’re still so in love with the Berkeley house...we don’t wanna move. But if you and Emily were thinking of moving back to Newport...we think it would only be right if you lived there.” 

Because where else would Ryan Atwood live if he’s going to move to Newport, anyways?

He reaches out and wraps his hand around hers. His hand is strong and large and calloused and a little rough, while hers is starting to wrinkle, though it’s still soft the way he remembers it. From all of the pats on the shoulder, and the brushing back of too-long hair, and resting on his wrist when she felt him get too sad late at night when neither of them could sleep and she’d make tea for them.

***** 

Sometimes Kirsten thinks about what it would have been like if Ryan had come into their lives much, much sooner. 

What it would have been like if Sandy had brought home Ryan Atwood: aged four, and how she would have carried him on her hip and taught him to tie his shoes, and write his name and hold her hand to cross the street. 

Licking her thumb, wiping a smudge of dirt off of his sweet little face, and how a tiny little Ryan would have crinkled his nose, but let her.

How would that Ryan have turned out? 

Less sad, she hopes, but still the same in other ways. Ambitious and kind-hearted, funny and fierce in his own quiet way. 

Less prone to getting into trouble, she hopes, but you can’t fight fate sometimes.

They sit at the kitchen table in his New York brownstone, and they’re going back and forth, adjusting the large sketch Ryan has made of the Newport house while Sophie watches a movie in the other room, and Sandy watches them, slightly mystified. 

“You know,” he says as he sips his coffee. “I never got to see this process when I ran the Newport Group.” 

“To be fair,” Ryan teases, “you were a little busy hiring strippers for investors.” 

“Gee, thanks,” Sandy drawls, and he sours a little more when Kirsten can’t help a little grin. “Yeah, yuck it up, you two. Real funny.” 

“It’s a little funny,” Ryan admits as he sketches, but drops his pencil when he hears his son cry from the baby monitor. “Somebody’s awake.” 

“I can go check on him,” Sandy says, setting his coffee down. “You two keep working.” 

“Don’t hire any strippers for your grandson,” Kirsten quips, and grins as she watches Ryan start to really laugh. 

Sandy grumbles incoherently as he walks out of the kitchen, and from the living room, Sophie asks why they keep talking about strippers. 

Kirsten and Ryan say “no reason!” at the same time. 

***** 

The phonecall with Emily that night is easy, because it’s always easy. 

She makes everything so easy. 

“You wanna move back.” 

“I...yeah. That house. That neighborhood. I kinda do.” 

“Well, I can work from anywhere,” she says. “But you’d have to find another job, babe.” 

She calls him “babe” which used to feel a little off, because his mom did that sometimes, but Emily says it so differently all the time. There’s a “babe” for every emotion. Love, frustrating, amusement, passion, worry. 

This babe is a healthy mix of love and worry. 

“I had an idea, actually,” he says.

“Yeah?” she asks. “Hit me.” 

“Well...what if I opened up my own firm? Low-income housing, affordable retail space…” 

“Is that what you want?” she asks. And it’s a fair question. If it’s not what he wants, he has no business trying to do it. If he’s only doing this because his ex-girlfriend thinks it would be neat to be neighbors and it’s what his mother wants, then he shouldn’t do this.

Something he learned from this woman that he’s built a life with is that if you keep sacrificing for other people without ever taking care of your own needs and desires, you can very easily wind up feeling very empty. 

“I hate winter,” he tells her matter-of-factly. 

It makes Emily laugh and he smiles. “Yeah? That’s it? That’s the real reason? You’re like Seth, in that deep down, you are a 90-year-old Jewish man who just wants to live out the rest of his life somewhere warm?” 

“It’s the coats,” he tells her. “They make me look fat.” 

She laughs harder. “Babe.” 

Ryan sighs, getting serious. “Being my own boss would be amazing. We have the start-up capital to do it, and the Newport house could be my first project. If I can do this on my own…show people I’m capable of making amazing things, then maybe they’ll hire me...and yeah. Living by the beach...watching our kid grow up in the place that took me in, gave me a home...it’s appealing to me.” 

Emily sighs. “Those are all really great reasons.” 

“I know you love New York…” 

“It’s not a good enough reason to stay when you have so many great reasons to leave.” 

“Em…” 

“I love you,” she tells him. “You supported me when I got my masters, it’s my turn to support you. So when I get home, we’ll start planning.” 

“You are way too good to me.” 

He can hear her smile. “I love you. I’ll see you next week.” 

***** 

“I’m sorry, you’re doing what?” 

Ryan sighs softly. It’s late at night, and everyone but he and his very not-sleepy son are asleep. 

He sitting in the nursery’s rocking chair with Alexander Sanford Atwood in his arm, a phone to his ear. 

Alex has been fed and burped but his big green eyes are wide open. He’s not being any trouble, he’s just up. 

Seth, however…

“Rebuilding the old house and moving back,” Ryan repeats. 

“I cannot believe you’re listening to Taylor,” Seth says. “Didn’t she convince you to grow a mustache that one time? She has terrible ideas.” 

“Well, yeah, but Kirsten doesn’t,” Ryan says. “Rebuilding the old house...opening up shop on my own firm...that’s really appealing.”

Seth frowns, and Ryan can hear him doing it. 

“I mean...if you move back...and Taylor moves back...Luke’s already there...how are Summer and I supposed to stay in Portland?” 

“You could see if the Roberts house is on the market.” 

“And have my sweet, innocent angel daughter grow up in the house I so awkwardly and painfully lost my virginity in? No way.” 

“There was also that Briefcase or No Briefcase thing…” 

“Some friend you are, you promised never to speak of that again.” 

“Look,” Ryan says. “It’s up to you guys...you can write comic books from anywhere, and Summer can work for the non-profit remotely, right?” 

Seth sighs heavily. “The truth is, Summer is very pro this idea. She still owns that giant beach house her dad got her after freshman year of college, so we’d have a place...and living so close to you wouldn’t suck at all…” 

“But you dislike Newport.” 

Seth hesitates. “My dislike has softened over the years...It’s not a terrible place to raise a family...I just have to pray that Dinah doesn’t wind up being as painfully awkward as I was growing up.” 

“She’ll have built-in friends at least,” Ryan points out. “Alex, and the twins, Luke’s got a kid, too, right?” 

“And her super-cool parents.” 

Ryan stays quiet and waits, and Seth sighs heavily. 

“Fine. A super-cool mom.” 

“Yep.” 

***** 

They stand in front of the old Newport house quietly for a long moment, Kirsten’s arms crossed, Ryan’s hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. 

He’s forgotten just how warm it gets here, and it’s nice. It’s nice to not be so cold like he is in New York in January. 

“I can’t even imagine what the inside looks like,” Kirsten says, sighing to herself. “I wonder if anyone’s even been in there since we left.” 

Ryan’s guessing no. Everything is overgrown. You’d think in a place like Newport something like this wouldn’t be allowed to happen, but...well…

He can almost hear Seth babbling about how the house probably has a new reputation for being haunted and local kids probably wander in on Halloween. 

Ryan thinks maybe some scared, lonely kid squatted here. Maybe running from strict parents...or maybe it was someone like him. Someone hiding from child services, unwilling to be thrown into a foster home or be lost in a system that doesn’t care about them. 

Kirsten rests her hand on his arm. 

When they walk inside, it looks the same, but not. Everything is coated in dust and cobwebs, and it feels damper than it used to. Ryan can tell the place is in awful shape, but here they are anyways. 

They order Chinese food and sit on the floor, eating and talking and going over plans. 

“Do you want the master suite in the same place?” she asks, as she sips some of her wanton soup.

“You know, I was thinking of flipping it a little,” Ryan says, as he sketches. “Putting the master suite where the pool house is and connecting it to the main house, and then putting a pool house where the master suite used to be.” 

“You’d definitely have the best view from the your bedroom if you did that,” Kirsten nods. “But you’d have to change the floorplan entirely to do it. Flip where all the bedrooms are now, lower the main floor…Getting a contractor to do all of the right is going to be tough.” 

“I can just oversee all of it,” Ryan shrugs. 

“That’s a lot of work, sweetheart,’ Kirsten reminds him. “You’re already doing the plans, and you’ve got a two-month-old and a busy wife back in New York.” 

He sighs heavily and looks down at the plans. He doesn’t want anyone else overseeing construction, but Kirsten isn’t wrong about having a lo on his plate. 

***** 

Sandy squints up at the old house and frowns. “The old girl’s seen better days.” 

“She’ll see good days again soon,” Kirsten promises. She’s standing between Seth and Ryan, with Sandy on Seth’s other side.

It’s the four of them again, for the first time in a long time, standing in front of that old house. Summer and Emily and the kids are at the hotel, not wanting a couple of three-month-olds to be in front of a demolition site. 

Ryan smiles at them. “I promise. It’s gonna be better than ever.” 

The bulldozer swings, and Kirsten hooks her arms through those of her grown sons.

***** 

Ryan gets pulled into supervising. 

“You’re sure this is okay?” he asks. 

Emily is sweet-faced under her long main of red hair, and when she smiles at him, Ryan feels like he’s melting in the best way possible, and he hopes that feeling never, ever goes away. 

She’s smiling now. “Look, we’re wrapped up in New York. Everything is in storage at your parents’ place. We can either keep staying here at the hotel -” 

“That’s really expensive,” Ryan points out quickly. 

“Or we can rent a place in the numbered streets until construction is done,” Emily finishes. She wraps her arms around him. She’s still smiling. “You moved all the way across the country for me after Berkeley so I could go to grad school at NYU. You...found a firm to work with, and you settled into a place that is too busy and too cold for you.” 

“And I’d do it again.” 

“And I love you to the moon and back for that,” Emily tells him. “But your dreams are just as important as mine.” 

He hesitates. He always hesitates when people talk about his wants and needs and dreams, because he will always feel as though they’re not as important as those of the people he loves. 

“Babe,” she says, and it’s sympathetic and warm, and it washes over him. He grips her hips gently. 

“The numbered streets are still pretty nice,” he says quietly. “A two bed-room for a few months until construction is done...you can write and research...” 

“And you can oversee your dream house,” Emily grins. “This is great.” 

***** 

“This is great!” 

Taylor Townsend is still a squeaker so many years and a pair of twins later. She hugs Ryan tightly, and then hugs Emily even tighter, and hops up and down, clapping her hands a little. 

Taylor and her husband Case invited them over for dinner so now they’re in an enormous house not far from the old Cohen house, sitting at their dining room table while the three babies wiggle in a playpen. 

“So are you guys putting politics on hold?” Ryan asks, watching them. 

Case is tall and blond (but not like Ryan is blond), and charming in a way that Ryan will never be charming. He smiles warmly at everyone he meets, and he doesn’t have trust issues or commitment issues or really any issues as for as Ryan can see from where he’s sitting. 

“We’re getting involved in local politics,” Case tells them as Taylor settles a torte on the table, which Ryan looks at a little judgmentally. “We’re gonna raise the kids, build up our cred here in Orange County and then move to the national scene once the twins are older.” 

“It’s not peach, it’s plum,” Taylor tells him primly, but grins. 

Emily snickers behind her hand and Ryan shoots her a teasingly annoyed look. They’ve talked before about Ryan’s ex-girlfriend Taylor Townsend whose ex-husband wrote a very naughty book about her, that Emily ran out and bought a copy of and giggled her way through like a schoolgirl. 

“What about you guys?” Taylor asks as she settles down and divides the torte between the four of them. 

“Well, physics research can be done anywhere, and there are some great research libraries in the area,” Emily says with a smiles as she accepts a plate. “And Ryan’s overseeing construction on the house, and after that, he’s starting up his own architecture firm here in Newport.” 

She sounds so proud, and Ryan can’t help a smile that unwittingly tugs at his lips.

“Aw, you guys are such math nerds together,” Taylor coos. “So cute. And Alex is a little heartbreaker, he looks just like Ryan.” 

“Em’s eyes, though,” Ryan says. It’s important to him that yeah, Alex has his face, but he’s got Emily’s big, expressive green eyes.

“Like I said, a total heartbreaker,” Taylor says. 

“Not as heartbreaky as our kids,” Case says jokingly. “Parker and Penny are pretty, pretty babies.” 

“Yes they are,” Emily agrees. “So cute.” 

They are cute kids, but Ryan’s not convinced they’re better-looking than his own son.

***** 

It takes months, but they’re almost done. 

“This place looks amazing,” Seth says as he steps into the house. “It’s the same...but it’s not the same...hey what’s that hallway over there by the back doors? Shouldn’t that be in the other direction where the master suite is?” 

“Nope.” 

Seth blinks and looks around more. “Wait. Wait.” he laughs. “Oh my god. You flipped where the master suite is so you can still live in the pool house?” 

“It’s not the pool house anymore, Seth.” 

Seth wrinkles his nose. “I mean not technically, but it kinda still is cause it’s in the same spot as the pool house was and you’ll be sleeping there again. So...”

“Shut up, Seth.” 

“Nope. Pool house.” 

“Get off my construction site.” 

***** 

When Summer and Seth move back, two weeks before construction wraps, Summer shows up after he’s cut the crew loose for the day.  
Turns out Ryan’s really good at overseeing construction crews. The guys like him a lot, and he’s got a feeling he’ll be seeing them around after this job is over. 

“Roberts-Cohen,” Ryan grins as she wipes his hands off with a dusty towel.

“Hey, Atwood,” she says, but doesn’t say much else, and he looks at her, and there’s that faraway look in her eyes he knows pretty well from way back when Everything Happened. 

He rubs his hands on his jeans. “You uh…” 

“Yeah,” she nods. “I was hoping you’d go with me.”

Ryan nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.” 

She gives him a sad smile, and they head out, each hopping into their respective cars and driving off in the same direction.

***** 

The cemetery is nice, and the air is cool. It feels good after a long day working on the house. 

They step up to the gravesite quietly, Summer wearing a chic green dress with nice boots. She’s older-looking, but she’s still short and feisty and eagle-eyed. Ryan’s wearing old jeans and a gray t-shirt. He pulls the pencil he’s got perched on his ear and fiddles with it. 

This still hurts. 

It still hurts him to know that she’ll never leave this place. That Marissa Cooper will never smile or laugh or cry again. She’ll never grow up the rest of the way. She’ll never move on or get married or know what it’s like to sit in a dark kitchen and feed your infant at three in the morning. 

It kills him a little to know that he got to move on and grow up and change and live and she’s still here. 

Summer grips him by the thumb. 

“Hey, Coop,” she says softly. “I just wanted to drop by. Say hey. I know Atwood hadn’t been by yet, so I figured I’d drag him along too, you know? He’s been rebuilding the Cohen house from when it got all messed up years ago.” 

“We’re movin in,” Ryan says quietly, clearing his throat. This isn’t something he does. He doesn’t do...this. This death thing. Talking to the dead. He knows some people find it helpful, but it just winds up hurting to know that he won’t get an answer back. “Me and uhm...Em-” 

“I told you about Emily,” Summer jumps in again. “Total bombshell. Red hair, legs for days, great rack, physics genius. Way too good for Atwood here.” 

“Well, she doesn’t seem to think so,” Ryan says, grinning. “Anyways, uhm...it’s almost done. The house, I mean. It’s almost done, and Em and I and our son are gonna live there.” 

“You should see Alex, Coop. He’s baby chino.” 

Ryan shakes his head and sighs, and knows that Summer is thinking that it could have- should have- been she and Seth and Ryan and Marissa. That if Marissa had lived, she would have married him, and he’d be building this house for them, instead of for Emily. 

But Ryan knows better. He knows that they were so young when they dated, and she was leaving for Hawaii the night she died. He was going off to Berkeley. He would have met Emily there whether Marissa had died or not.

He would have fallen in love with Emily even if Marissa had lived. He’s pretty sure about that. He’s also positive that Marissa would have found someone in Hawaii. There’s no way she wouldn’t have, and that if Marissa were still alive, she and her family might be in on this plan to move back to Newport.

Not every high school couple makes it the way Seth and Summer have. 

In fact, almost no high school couple does.

“I miss her,” Summer says quietly, her grip on his thumb tight.

“I know,” Ryan nods. “I know.” 

***** 

“Oh, my god,” Theresa laughs. “You’re back in California?” 

Ryan grins as he cooks dinner on the little stove in their rental. It’s small, but cozy, and he hadn’t exactly forgotten to call Theresa, by the way, but he’d been putting it off a little. Theresa was complicated with the baby that wasn’t his but they thought might be his, that Theresa lied to him about losing and then gave birth to without telling him, that he found out about like a year later by accident…

Emily had teased him a little about soap operas, and he’d rolled his eyes. 

“I am,” he tells Theresa. “Back in Newport...rebuilding the old Cohen house...Em and I are moving in.” 

“That’s really nice, Ryan,” Theresa says. She’s smiling. She’s married to that guy-from-work she’d mentioned when they’d gone to prom together. “How’s the baby?” 

“He’s great,” Ryan grins. “I uh...I really like being a dad.” 

“I bet you’re a great dad,” Theresa tells him gently, and there’s a pause that’s a little on the awkward side.

“How’s Daniel?” 

“He’s good,” Theresa tells him. “He’s ten now.” 

Ryan snorts. “Oh god.” 

“Uh-huh. I gave birth to him ten years ago, at age seventeen.” 

“Oh, god.” 

Theresa laughs.

***** 

Kirsten steps into the house and smiles widely at the finished product. There’s no furniture yet, but it feels like their house felt to her. Welcoming and warm. There are differences (Ryan, so determined to have his pool house view from the master suite), but it’s definitely their house. 

“It needs paint,” she says gently. “And furniture. But it’s amazing.” 

Ryan grins widely and wraps an arm around her shoulders. “Pool house is that way,” he points. “And then upstairs is Alex’s room and a couple of guestrooms. You can come and stay whenever you want.” 

“You know, when you guys went off to college, I really wanted this to be the house you came home to during the holidays,” Kirsten tells him. 

“Well, there’s nothing that says we can’t spend Chismukkah here this year,” he points out. “Hopefully Em and I will be done bickering about paint colors by then.” 

Kirsten chuckles. “She’s pulling for bright and bold?” 

“And I like my neutrals,” Ryan shrugs. “We’ll figure it out. She and I always do. But I’m gonna guess that at least one guestroom is gonna wind up orange or purple.” 

“And Alex’s room?” 

“Jungle-themed,” Ryan says. “That we figured out. Lotsa greens, lotsa tigers.” 

Kirsten pats his chest. “Let’s order some food, and we can give the place a once-over.” 

And they do. 

*****  
“I heard, but I had to see it with my own eyes! What’s up, Chino!” 

Luke hasn’t changed.

He’s older, obviously, and he’s got a baby just like Ryan does, a boy, and a wife who is...very, very attractive, and thank god, not Holly Fisher.

Still Luke, though. Definitely. 

They clasp hands on the beach, each of them out for a walk with their families.

“How you doin, Luke?” 

“Awesome,” Luke grins broadly. “Oh! This is Mahalia, my wife, and our son, Nick.” 

Mahalia is gorgeous; tall and according to Luke, of Filipino descent, and as far as Ryan can tell, a far, far cry from the brainless party girls of his youth.

Ryan shakes Mahalia’s hand and smiles politely. “Uh...oh, this is my wife, Emily, and this is Alex.” 

“Not bad, Chino,” Luke mutters to him as their wives chat amiably. 

“Yeah, man, you neither.” 

“Drapes match the curtains?” Luke asks. 

Ryan snorts. “You will never, ever find out.” 

“Fair.” 

Ryan looks at him. “So what are you doin back in Newport?” 

“Ah, my mom’s not in great shape,” Luke admits grimly. “Brad is up in Portland selling cars at my dad’s dealership, and Eric’s...to be honest, I have no idea what Eric is doing, but I think he’s in Bermuda.” 

“Huh.” 

“Anyways, before the baby was born, Mahalia and I were opening up high-end restaurants in Austin, and actually-” Luke stops and grins. “Actually, you are just the man I should be talking to.” 

***** 

Sandy laughs, tickled pink. “Luke wants to rebuild and re-open the Lighthouse?” 

Ryan nods. “That’s what he told me...and he wants me to plan and see the build through.” 

Kirsten beams. “That’s wonderful.” 

“I mean, it is,” Ryan says. “But I don’t really have a business up and running yet…” he looks at her and takes a breath. “I could use some help.” 

***** 

They’re boxing up their things from rental, getting ready to move. Alex is sleeping, and Em is humming softly as they work. 

“Hey, Em?” 

“Mhm?” 

He turns to her, and watches her for a moment. She’s taping a box closed, her long hair tugged up into a high ponytail at the top of her head. She’s got glasses on instead of contacts, and she’s not wearing any make-up, or shoes. 

She turns to look at him, grinning. “What?” 

“I uh…” he takes a breath. “We’re okay, right?” 

Emily quirks an eyebrow, looking a little confused. “Uh…” 

“I dragged you back across the country,” Ryan adds. “I...uprooted us to build a house, and now I’ve got a possible job building a restaurant and-” 

“Ryan.” 

“I’m makin sure. I don’t want you to be unhappy.” 

She steps over and in-between boxes to get to him. “I’m not unhappy.” 

“But you’d tell me, if-” 

“I’m not unhappy!” 

“Okay!”

 

Emily laughs softly. “Ryan.” 

“I know, I know,” he moans, rubbing his eyes. 

“I would tell you if I was,” she says. “But I’m not. How many rounds do we have to go about this?” 

“A bunch, I guess,” Ryan says quietly, letting his forehead fall on her shoulder. 

“Babe.” 

“I’m worried that movin back here is a mistake,” he admits. “That this is just a crazy, hair-brained scheme that’s gonna end badly.” 

“You think too much,” Emily tells him. 

“But what if-” 

Her lips shut his up soundly, and he stops trying to get words out as he kisses her back, his hands resting on her hips. 

“You think,” she says against his lips. “Too much.” 

***** 

He was right about the paint arguments. 

“That is a truly awful shade of orange,” he tells her as he paces behind their new couch. The first piece of furniture bought for the new house is a deep blue couch that sits in the middle of the living room. 

“Babe.” It’s a pleading sound. A little whiny. A little teasing and funny. “Taup is boring.” 

“But not ugly.” 

“Debateable.” 

“What about a seafoam color?” 

Emily wrinkles her nose and tugs at her own red locks. “That depends on how many Little Mermaid jokes you wanna hear.” 

Ryan laughs softly. “Okay. No seafoam. But no orange, either!” 

She pouts, leaning over the back of the couch, and waves the paint chip at him. 

“Nope. No.” 

“Ugh! Fine! Purple!” 

“What shade of purple?” Ryan asks. 

Emily lifts a deep plum color and he shakes his head. 

“Em. No way.” 

“Why not?!” 

“Because it’ll be a pain in the ass if we wanna repaint some day!” 

“Who would ever want to repaint this color?!” 

“Me,” Ryan admits. 

“Ugh! I can’t believe I have sex with you.” 

He lifts an eyebrow and steps closer to the couch. “You know, Alex is with Sandy and Kirsten for the day.” 

“So?” Emily asks primly. 

Ryan lifts his eyebrows. 

“You just insulted my color choices!” she cries. “I’m not christening the couch with you after that!” 

“I bet I can get you to change your mind.” He starts climbing over the couch, and she yelps when he falls on top of her. 

The house winds up in mostly blues and whites. 

***** 

Julie-Cooper-Nichol-Cooper-Atwood still looks oddly flawless these many years later as she steps into the Cohen house 2.0.

She looks around and grins slowly before turning to him. “This is really something, Ryan. You should be proud.” 

He nods. “Thanks.” 

She does that thing where she air-kisses his cheek, which he always finds kind of weird and detached when people who aren’t Julie do it, but when it’s Julie, it feels warm and familiar. Maybe it’s because Ryan knows that she only does this for people she actually cares about. 

If Julie Cooper hates you, generally speaking, she won’t touch you, and Ryan should know because Julie Cooper used to hate him.

But that was a very long time ago now. 

Now, she’s married to Ryan’s biological father, and they have a son together. Ian, who is eight and has light brown hair and big blue eyes and smiles big and happy all the time. 

Ryan has a lot of mixed feelings about this; about Frank Atwood getting it right the third time around, with a third son in a way he never, ever could with Ryan, or with Trey. 

It’s nice to see Frank so happy and settled, but Ryan would be lying his face off if he said it didn’t hurt a little. He’d be lying even harder if he said he trusted Frank not to screw it all up. 

There’s a very specific reason why Ryan and Frank haven’t been alone in a room together since before Frank went to jail. It goes hand-in-hand with the reason why all interactions with Frank are carefully mapped out, complete with exit strategies and prep time.

When Frank started showing up again, and Seth noticed how anxious seeing the man made Ryan (Seth was the only one, by the way. Seth knows all his tells, however small), he’d come up with all sorts of ways to make sure Ryan felt like the situation was his to control. 

Say what you will about Seth Cohen. Ryan will always be grateful for that. 

“So, how Emily? How’s the baby?” Julie asks as she starts basically giving herself a tour of the house. 

“They’re both great,” Ryan says. “We’re renting a little place in the numbered streets until this one is ready. Em’s been doing most of her research from home, taking care of Alex.” Ryan slips his phone out and pulls up the most recent photo of his son, holding it out to her. 

Julie smiles, giving it a long look. “He looks so much like you. And Ian, actually. It’s the same jawline.” 

“Em’s eyes,” Ryan says, like he always says. 

Julie grins. “I see. He’s very sweet-looking, Ryan.” 

Ryan nods and follows Julie through the house. She steps into the master suite and freezes. 

“You flipped the pool house and the master suite,” she says, lifting an eyebrow at him.

Ryan turns red, but he doesn’t know why, just scratches the back of his head awkwardly. “I like this view.” 

Julie smirks. “Uh-huh.” She pats his shoulder. 

“Uhm...how is Ian, by the way? And Frank and Kaitlin?” 

“They’re all doing very well,” Julie grins. “Frank and Ian and I are in LA now, so not too far away. Kaitlin is spending her summer traveling with the Bullit as his personal assistant, and loving every minute.” 

“That’s great.” 

Julie looks him up and down. “You know, we haven’t seen you guys since before Alex was born. You should visit.” 

“Well, that’ll be easier now that we’re moving here,” Ryan grins tightly. 

Julie gives a slow nod and hugs him tightly, which he’s not prepared for. He pats her shoulder gently, hugging her back, but not as tightly. 

“I know it’s not easy,” she tells him as she pulls away. “Your relationship with Frank being what it is, and then there’s your history with Cooper women.” 

He tenses a little. 

She looks slightly guilty. “Summer let slip that she took you to the cemetery not too long ago.” 

“Oh.” 

“Are you okay?” 

Ryan nods. “Yeah. Yeah. I just...being back here…” he takes a breath. “I hope I’m not making the wrong choice.” 

“Well, the house is gorgeous,” Julie tells him. “You’ve really outdone yourself with it. And Newport has some of the best schools in the country...it’s beautiful...Taylor and her family are here, Seth and Summer are slowly moving back...Luke is here, for whatever that’s worth.” 

He rolls his eyes. “God. Luke.” 

She chuckles. “Still Luke?” 

“Aggressively so.” 

“Look, you’re not trapped here,” Julie points out. “If it turns out that Newport isn’t a good fit for you guys, you can sell the house, and move back to New York, or up to Berkeley, be closer to Sandy and Kirsten...or there’s always LA near us. You have plenty of choices. But for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’ve made the wrong choice.” 

He grins at her, for real this time, even if it is a little sad.

***** 

Furniture happens a lot faster than Ryan anticipates, he and Emily surprisingly liking a lot of the same designs, while still bickering about color. Mostly he lets her have her way with accents, and it turns out they’re both very into the rosewood for the master suite’s furniture. 

“I swear to you, Ryan Atwood, if you order toup sheets for our bedroom…” 

“What’s wrong with toup?” he laughs softly, as he checks out a cobalt set, and then a gunmetal gray set. 

“Now you’re just being mean,” Emily accuses. 

Ryan chuckles. 

***** 

Sandy bursts into soft laughter when he finds him lying in the middle of the empty pool house. “What year is it?” 

“I don’t know anymore,” Ryan admits, looking up at her with a sheepish grin. “I mean...y’know. I’m married. A home-owner...I’m a father...but I’m lying on the floor of this pool house that is shaped exactly like the pool house I spent my teens in, so…” 

“So you’re feeling a little nostalgic,” Sandy surmises, as he sits on the raised ledge near the back of the room. “What’s on your mind?” 

“Architecture Firm names,” Ryan says slowly. “I need one, if I’m gonna get serious about this. And business cards. People who own businesses have business cards.” 

“Usually, yeah,” Sandy nods. “What about Atwood Designs?” 

He wrinkles his nose. “I don’t want my name in it. Feels weird.” 

“Well...what doesn’t feel weird?” Sandy asks. “Other than lying on the floor of this old new pool house?” 

Seth pokes his head in before Ryan can answer, and gives a low whistle. “Wow. This is uh...this is aggressively throw-backy.” 

Ryan looks up at him as his brother steps over. “I’m trying to think of a name for my architecture firm.” 

“Atwood De-” 

“Nope.” 

Seth sighs heavily. “Okay. This might take some Seth-Ryan time.” He hunches down and sprawls out next to him. 

Sandy shakes his head. “Okay. You guys think on that. I’m gonna leave you to it.” 

“See ya, Dad,” Seth says. 

“Don’t you have deadlines to meet?” Ryan asks as Sandy closes the door behind him. “And a wife and kid?” 

“So do you,” Seth reminds him. “Yet here we are. Kid Chino and the Ironist, putting our heads together once again.” He grins at him. “Hey Ryan.” 

“What?” 

Seth grins wider. “Chino Designs?” 

“Shut up.” 

“I mean it doesn’t have to be ‘Designs’ but it could be Chino something-or-other.” 

Ryan sighs and stares at the ceiling. Sometimes he hates when Seth is right. 

Seth pulls a small sketch pad out of his pack pocket along with a mechanical pencil and sketches out the word “Chino” in blocky letters. 

They throw things around for about an hour before Ryan comes up with something that works. 

“The Chino Build Lab.” 

“Hey, that’s pretty good,” Seth says, and sketches the other two words out. He adds the “the” in the front, and underlines it. “Not bad.” 

Summer pokes her head in and crosses her arms. “Seriously?” 

Ryan looks up and grins. “Hey. Seth was helpin me think up a name for my architecture firm.” 

“Well, there aren’t any video games in here yet, and there aren’t any magic cards lying around, so I guess I’ll believe you,” Summer tells him playfully. “C’mon. Em and I are starving, and the babies need naps. Vamanos.” 

***** 

The kids nap in the crib at Seth and Summer’s place, and Ryan and Seth wander into Dinah’s room after dinner to watch the kids sleep, leaning over the crib together. 

“You ever think, when we were...hiding you from child services in an abandoned model home, or being gaslit by Oliver that we’d wind up here?” Seth asks. 

“Not ever,” Ryan replies. “And you were gaslit by Oliver. I never bought into his bullshit.” 

Seth sighs heavily. “You ever wonder whatever happened to Oliver?” 

“No.” 

“Hmm.” 

***** 

Emily strokes his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. 

First night in the new house. Alex is fast asleep and it’s late. 

“You can kinda hear the ocean from here,” Emily says softly. 

“A little,” Ryan says. 

“It’s nice.” 

“Mhm.” 

She cuddles closer to him, and closes her eyes, and he holds her tightly, and breathes deep.

This is what good feels like.

***** 

The housewarming party is in full swing, with Sandy and Seth manning the grill and Ian and Sophie running around, trying to shove each other into the pool. Kirsten and Julie chat amiably with Summer, Mahalia, Taylor, and Emily, with the babies relaxing in a playpen next to their table. Frank, Kaitlin and Bullit are talking with Case and Luke.

“Place looks good,” Sandy tells him, his hand still on Ryan’s shoulder comfortingly. “You done good.” 

“Thanks,” Ryan grins. “Now I gotta work with Luke on the Lighthouse.” 

“Ah, it’ll be fine,” Sandy says. “It’ll be good.” 

“Yeah, man,” Seth interjects. “The Chino Build Lab’s got its first client.” 

Ryan grins and nods. “You know what? Yeah. This is good.” 

“Hey, Chino!” Luke calls. “Wasn’t the pool house on the other end of the property?!” 

Ryan sighs deeply.


End file.
